from Hacker News

Error messages in Haiku?

by boredgamer2 on 5/13/20, 8:12 PM with 39 comments

by prakashk on 5/13/20, 11:36 PM

Normal error message in Perl:

    $ perl -Mstrict -e 'say $x'
    Global symbol "$x" requires explicit package name (did you forget to declare "my $x"?) at -e line 1.
    Execution of -e aborted due to compilation errors.

With the addition of `Coy` module [1]:

    $ perl -Mstrict -MCoy -e 'say $x'

        -----
        Gautama dies near
        a monastry. Two woodpeckers
        fly over the lake.
        -----

                Or Wunt's commentary...

                Global symbol "$x" requires explicit package name (did you
                forget to declare "my $x"?)

                        (Analects of -e: line 1.
                         Execution of -e aborted due to compilation
                         errors.)

[1]: https://metacpan.org/pod/Coy

by lozf on 5/13/20, 10:40 PM
A few times a month/year I'll get some email because the sender made a typo of the domain they wanted. Postmaster notifies them with:
```
    your mistake not mine
    email sent to wrong address
    retry with more care
```
by greendave on 5/13/20, 10:30 PM
The old Net+ errors[1] are still golden. My favorite:
```
  A file that big?
  It might be very useful
  But now it is gone.
```
[1] https://8325.org/haiku/
by rexarex on 5/14/20, 6:00 AM
Juniper networking equipment has a hidden CLI command that spits out a nerdy or sleep deprived haiku:
E.G
```
  Juniper> show version and haiku;

  IS-IS Screams,
  BGP peer flapping;
  I want my mommy!

  TTL down one
  the end nearer with each hop
  little packet, poof.

  Amazing photons
  Carry our data worldwide
  Never seem to stop

  My session is dead:
  Forgot to commit confirm.
  Where are my car keys?
```
For some reason, it’s hard to find all of them compiled in one place. I think it changes over time depending on the version of JUNOS and the hardware platform.
It was always a little uplifting when you had an incident occurring and you needed a little something—anything—to keep you going (:
by hanoz on 5/13/20, 10:25 PM
What is it with Haiku? The whole 5-7-5 structure just doesn't ring true with me at all. I mean, I get that it is enigmatic, but it just seems like it's enigmatic purely by virtue of not having any other redeeming quality.

by divbzero on 5/13/20, 10:02 PM

  What I’d love to see
  is this for HTTP —
  status code haikus

by ecpottinger on 5/13/20, 9:06 PM
Clearly someone has not used Beos.
by asdfasgasdgasdg on 5/13/20, 10:13 PM
Yesterday it worked / Today it is not working / Windows is like that
Reflecting an understanding of the state of computing usability last updated in the early 90s.
by bryanrasmussen on 5/14/20, 9:59 AM
The greatest error message in Haiku ever was:
I am so sorry.
Something struck me in the rear.
I just ... wound up ... here.
https://avatar.fandom.com/wiki/Transcript:The_Tales_of_Ba_Si...
by emptybits on 5/14/20, 3:10 AM
These are lovely and lighthearted with a 5-7-5 structure, but for anyone interested in how English might actually express the spirit and content and structure of haiku, here's a nice article.[1] Or, of course, WP as a jumping off point.[2]
But long live creativity in constrained form, whatever the label!
[1] http://britishhaikusociety.org.uk/2011/02/english-haiku-a-co...
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiku_in_English

by gpvos on 5/14/20, 9:07 AM

    I ate your Web page.
    Forgive me, it was juicy
    and tart on my tongue.

(MIT 404 error from the early web)

by tgdnt on 5/14/20, 3:05 AM
It's a shame that the word haiku is now used for any arbitrary collection of 3 lines with none of what would actually make them a haiku.
by wackro on 5/14/20, 9:29 AM
Reminds me of The Tao of Programming.
https://www.mit.edu/~xela/tao.html
Huge pearls of wisdom.

by dragonshed on 5/14/20, 7:26 PM

An oldie but goodie

  > Server is willing  
  > Alas, the file is crafty
  > It cannot be found

by Taniwha on 5/14/20, 9:26 AM
EINTR please excuse me
what you were doing stops
now time for my stuff